Welded RK Sport 3.8's

[Brendan Hearn]

Ok, after reading at least 100 posts on these headers, including about 90 posts on them leaking. I'm thinking about having the headers and the y pipe welded together. Is this a wise idea? Will it prevent leaking? Cause any problems? I was going to get new gaskets and flanges but they didnt have them in my size.

[rob231]

i would get them welded on to save you the trouble of having to do it later on. also don't use the gaskets that come w/ the headers,try and get the original equipment(oem) style gaskets.i had mine welded at the y-pipe. i left the $hitty rk sport gaskets on where the header meets the head and they started leaking on the driver side so i replaced them w/ oem style gaskets(which are completely metal)nd i didn't have to cut the welds to get extra clearance. once the header was unbolted they slipped right in. hopes this helps you out.

[Brendan Hearn]

It certainly did, thank you. I've tried to find other gaskets/flanges that are stronger and have a three bolt pattern but all they have are ones for small block V8's :mad: Can I keep the flanges on the headers and y pipe if i weld them or should I get thicker ones?

[RacerJ]

Any competent exhaust/welding shop should be able to put on new flanges for you, and would have standard 3-bolt HEADER gaskets for them. I don't know why RKSport decided to use a design that would warp more easily and that didn't have a proper gasket made for it.

And NO, I would NOT weld the headers to the y-pipe. Although this would prevent leaking, it would also make it so you had to cut the headers off from the Y-pipe if you ever needed to take them off for anything. (Such as engine work... Whether it's to port and polish the heads or to replace a blown head gasket.)

[ItalianStallion1]

I second what RacerJ said, don't have the y-pipe welded to the headers. Just get 3/8 inch 3 bolt flanges welded on. It's that simple.

[Brendan Hearn]

I'm going to have to go with rob231's idea of welding the headers to the y-pipe only because I can't find a 3 bolt pattern for the flanges/gaskets (2.25") that match. The only partial luck I had was discount performance having 2.5". Does anyone know where i can score a pair?

[rob231]

welding them on won't give any problems doing engine work. all you do is unbolt them and they slide right off, away from the engine. you could easily take off the valve covers and heads. now if you were to take out the trans. then you would have to cut, but do not be scared it can all be easily welded back. it is a small price to pay for no leaks.

[knowledgefreak]

LISTEN a lot of people have given you wrong information. THE FLANGE size has nothing to do with warping.... it is the 2 bolt pattern that causes a problem.. the 3 bolt flanges are the same thickness as the problem 2 bolt flanges.